Older Guy wrote:Secondly, did anyone else break up laughing when you saw that?

Basically, we have some goofs driving cross country slowly in an RV.

YES, I laughed hard when I saw the video. To see a lone RV driving slowly across the country to mimic the pace of a runner is absolutely hilarious.

I can't think of a legit explanation for that. If they were driving ahead, there's no reason to go that slowly.

Guinness seems to be very inconsistent. They basically take people at their word for the multiple marathon records But if you want to break a record for running a marathon on a chip tiimed course wearing a hot dog costume, you need video of the whole thing, or independent witnesses (not crew), and pictures at every mile marker.

1 2 3 green wrote:From the blog of a legitimate ultra runner who did the Race Across USA with Rob Young.

Rob Young (http://www.marathonmanuk.com/), has also made a very quirky, vibrant, and talented addition to the group. Rob began Race Across USA 8 months into a world record attempt for number of marathons run in a single year. When we began a few days ago, heâ€™d already completed somewhere around 270 marathons in 240 days!If that werenâ€™t impressive enough, his pacing strategy is absolutely stunning. Heâ€™s been starting each marathon at about 5-5:30/mile pace, gradually slowing over the first half marathon, and then jog/walking the second half. Heâ€™s been so fast to our 6.5 and 13.1 mile aid stations that race staff havenâ€™t been able to get there and set them up in time. So he frequently blows through the early stations without support, and still manages to finish with a smile on his face. He is one of the most generous people Iâ€™ve ever met and I am really cherishing his companyhttp://www.bryceacarlson.com/b...flections/

I saw that Kevin's blog mentioned him scooting along at 5.30 pace which is pretty good for someone who only did a 20' parkrun that year. Even in 2013 form he wouldn't last very long at all at that pace.

"Stupidly I mentioned to Rob that at Towcester the back up crew had secured pork pies and sausage rolls, he launched into a 5.30 min mile pace and I started to curse him as I couldn't run that fast for a sustained period."

i thought it interesting for three reasons. First, in Rob's favor, it provides an account of him running at a fast pace for at least a few miles. Secondly, his strategy was interesting if not totally crazy. Third, he passed the aid stations and ran many consecutive marathons with no support (and no witnesses)

noobrunnerregistered

RE: Robert Young fakes run across America6/9/2016 1:28PM - in reply to 1 2 3 green

1 2 3 green wrote:Heâ€™s been starting each marathon at about 5-5:30/mile pace, gradually slowing over the first half marathon, and then jog/walking the second half. Heâ€™s been so fast to our 6.5 and 13.1 mile aid stations that race staff havenâ€™t been able to get there and set them up in time. So he frequently blows through the early stations without support, and still manages to finish with a smile on his face.

Or... he takes off like a bat out of hell to get out of sight and then rides to mile 20? I bet he looks fresh at the finish!

Any of these things by themselves and you might just ignore it. But it's sure seems like every single story about him involves something where they had no idea where he was because clearly he was *just* *too* *fast*. Too fast to even be seen!

Asher Delmott

RE: Robert Young fakes run across America6/9/2016 1:31PM - in reply to noobrunner

Serious question: If Rob is legitimately observed running a 70 mile day at a good pace, does that mean that his record attempt is legit?

I don't think so. There's a huge gulf between "can" and "did". Putting in a day like that helps his case, but it doesn't prove that he ran every foot of the course.

The undocumented and unlikely nature of his past running is a bigger concern to me than if he doesn't look lean enough by LR standards. It makes him harder to believe. The hard-to-explain RV moving slowly without a runner is also a big red flag.

But that doesn't mean he isn't running a lot or can't put in a legit leg if he's being observed. I doubt that he's riding in the RV the whole way.

I think challenging him to "prove" his record by documenting one leg is a mistake. It'd help him, but questions remain.

theres noone at the wheel

RE: Robert Young fakes run across America6/9/2016 1:37PM - in reply to Asher Delmott

So the video timestamp deviates from the tracker a bit - maybe by 8 minutes or so it seems. The 10:38 tracker point is shortly before getting to 6th and prairie.So the part where he drives past the store is the tracker timestamp range from 10:38 - 10:50: 1.96mi

'notherUlister

RE: Robert Young fakes run across America6/9/2016 1:39PM - in reply to elephino

elephino wrote:Serious question: If Rob is legitimately observed running a 70 mile day at a good pace, does that mean that his record attempt is legit?

I don't think so. There's a huge gulf between "can" and "did". Putting in a day like that helps his case, but it doesn't prove that he ran every foot of the course.

The undocumented and unlikely nature of his past running is a bigger concern to me than if he doesn't look lean enough by LR standards. It makes him harder to believe. The hard-to-explain RV moving slowly without a runner is also a big red flag.

But that doesn't mean he isn't running a lot or can't put in a legit leg if he's being observed. I doubt that he's riding in the RV the whole way.

I think challenging him to "prove" his record by documenting one leg is a mistake. It'd help him, but questions remain.

That's why the planned investigative team is aiming to do an approximate one-week continuous monitoring period. One 70-mile day isn't a problem for an experienced ultrarunner. 400+ miles in a week is world class (and less than Rob has claimed he's been doing ever since he left L.A.).

If he can do that under reliable observation that means something. If he tries it and ends up as a puddle of protoplasm on the pavement that means something else.

curiously interested

RE: Robert Young fakes run across America6/9/2016 1:42PM - in reply to CoachKev

LRC to the Rescue. wrote:Not normal to go on and on. Kev is worried. Really worried, one person doing it might be a sicko, a group of people doing it is a scam. Is doing a scam against charity legally fraud?

I can't win here, if I post nothing you all question why I'm not posting and then when I do post you say i'm going on.

Well, you could be his girlfriend. If he doesn't make any money, then you don't eat.

Asher Delmott

RE: Robert Young fakes run across America6/9/2016 2:02PM - in reply to noobrunner

Yes, the times don't quite match up. It seems like the tracker was off from my phone too, so it might be their tracker. It is possible that the time on the security video is slightly off; I don't know how it is set.

We still know it is his RV because of the American Flag. We still know it is weird for the RV to drive slowly down the road with no runner in sight.We have heard that the tracker is in the RV, so the disparity in times would be inconsequential if that is the case.

Runrunscam

RE: Robert Young fakes run across America6/9/2016 2:05PM - in reply to Heavyd84

Asher Delmott wrote:Yes, the times don't quite match up. It seems like the tracker was off from my phone too, so it might be their tracker. It is possible that the time on the security video is slightly off; I don't know how it is set.

We still know it is his RV because of the American Flag. We still know it is weird for the RV to drive slowly down the road with no runner in sight.We have heard that the tracker is in the RV, so the disparity in times would be inconsequential if that is the case.

Yes, but if a GPS were in the RV, then driving slow would be essential to register a 3hr marathon pace.

This fellow appears to be a good runner, but there are a lot of strange, unexplained things about this venture that are not aiding it credibility.

Okrunner

RE: Robert Young fakes run across America6/9/2016 2:14PM - in reply to Ultraboy

Ultraboy wrote:Funnily enough the tru results search somebody posted includes a guy called Robert Young who is the right age group and clocked a 30:47 second run leg in a duathlon. This matches Robs 19k PB.

Sadly that run leg was only 7km long.

Nice find - saw those results and thought it looked like it could be him but didn't make the connection on the times. Definitely seems to fit with a trend of him at least stretching the truth rather...